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Jared Kushner is on an Official Trip to Iraq

Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner is in Iraq at the invitation of Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the NYT reports:

The president has also charged Mr. Kushner, who has no previous government or diplomatic experience, with a vague edict to establish peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr. Kushner is also taking the lead in preparing the West Wing for Mr. Trump’s meeting this week with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s club in Palm Beach, Fla.

The paper adds: “It was unclear what Mr. Kushner, who has been expanding his reach in his father-in-law’s administration, planned to gain from the trip.”

Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he invited Kushner and Tom Bossert, White House homeland security adviser, to accompany him so they could hear “first-hand and unfiltered” from military advisers about the situation on the ground and interact with U.S. forces.

“I said, ‘Hey, next time I go to Iraq, if you’re interested, come and it’d be good,” Dunford said, adding he extended the invitation weeks ago.